A Demon's Heart
by KetchupIsBetterThanMayo74
Summary: Noemi Akiyama has always detested the shinobi village Suna, ever since the death of her beloved father. However, fate decided to be cruel to her once again and she now has to travel to Suna with her quirky team to complete a mission as well as deal with her conflicting feelings over a certain red-head... Is there anyway Noemi can win over this demon's heart?
1. Chapter 1

**'Sup Guys? ^w^**

**Tasha here bringing you a new story 'cause I sooooo need to get back into writing!**

**So, this is gonna be a Gaara love story so you'll have to bear with me as there is most likely gonna be some OOC here! O.o**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Naruto or a lot of ships would've happened by now! ^.^**

**However, Noemi and her teammates are my own characters so if any of you guys attempt to kidnap them I'll kick your asses! :D**

**Btw, this is gonna be a short and fast-paced story so sorry in advance for any confusion you guys may have. It's just that I find it really hard to finish a story but I love this plot, so I'm gonna keep it short ;)**

* * *

_15 years ago..._

The sun slowly began to rise, hovering just above the horizon and casting rays of light over the land. Morning dew sparkled in the grass like jewels and birds chirped their morning song. Rust-coloured leaves littered the ground, a few more joining them every minute as the crisp wind blew through the trees. Suddenly, a rumbling echoed through the air and several animals scurried away in fright._  
_

A dark hole emerged at the bottom of a mountain, and a yawning man wandered out of it, casting his hazy eyes across the scene. His headband glinted in the morning light, showing two triangles with the smaller one slightly in front of the larger one. He took a few steps forwards and stretched his arms, when a small cry emitted from somewhere. Startled, the man glanced around and his eyes widened considerably as they laid on a quivering bundle of cloth.

As he watched, a fold of cloth fell aside to reveal a small, wrinkled hand, clasping the air as if to latch itself onto something. He cautiously stalked towards the bundle, his eyes darting around in case of any traps. A louder cry sounded as the man crouched next to the bundle, before slowly opening the folds of the blanket.

Large, green eyes with golden specks stared up at him, slowly blinking. The baby reached up with both hands and grabbed the man's hand which was still resting on the blanket. The said person was still gazing at the tiny infant, warmth flooding into his eyes as the baby's mouth twitched up into a small smile. Gently, he took the infant in his arms and rocked her back and forth, murmuring reassuring words in their ear. Casting a final look around him, the man walked back inside the mountain and the hole slowly swallowed him, before being closed up once again.

* * *

_Present time..._

"Noemi Akiyama get your lazy ass down here now!"

I groaned but paid no attention to the aggravated voice, tying the ends of my forehead protector around the back of my neck and slowly pushing the metal plate up and over my forehead, so it rested comfortably on the top of my head. Making sure my fringe was pushed back with the metal plate, I gave one glance in the mirror before trotting out of my room and down the stairs.

As I descended, photos of my life lined the wall, starting with myself as a little baby and finishing with the picture I'd taken with my team when we became Chuunins. I paused to gaze at the man holding the baby version of me, before smiling slightly and skipping off the last step.

That man was the one who'd found me abandoned at the village gate, and he was the one I called Dad. However, it had been 6 years since I'd last seen him as he'd been killed on a mission by Sunagakure shinobi. Ever since, I had resented Suna and had refused to go on any missions regarding that village.

The moment I opened the door an arm wrestled around my neck and caught me in a headlock.

"Thank God! I was getting sick of standing here like a lemon! Why do you have to lie in so late?" Kazuko Saito growled, strangling me. I gasped for air and, my ninja instincts kicking in, I elbowed Kazuko in the gut and I felt the grip around her neck loosen, I wriggled out and bent Kazuko's arm behind her back. The said person hissed in pain.

"I need my lie ins Kaz." I said smoothly. "You know what I'm like when I don't get my lie in."

Kaz gulped at the frightening memory and nodded nervously.

"Please don't remind me." She mumbled. I grinned and let go of her arm.

"Let's go and get Teiji and Ichiro-sensei." I chirped, linking my arm through Kaz's non-injured arm and skipping down the passageway.

I lived in The Village Hidden in the Mountains, otherwise known as Samyaku. Our whole village was situated deep inside the mountains, and the only way to get in or out was the main gate which overlooked the valley we lived in. Not many villages knew we even existed, since we were extremely well hidden. This village is basically a sanctuary for those who need protection or have nowhere else to go. However, we are very suspicious of strangers and very rarely accept people from different villages entering our home.

Well, I'm not like that. Despite growing up in a close-knit community and having everything I ever needed here, I've always wished to explore the world. My team think I'm berserk, but I don't care. It gets very monotonous staying in these mountains every second of the day. I'm very different compared to the village, through looks and personality. Whereas everyone has dark hair and pale skin, I have caramel hair and tanned skin, despite hardly seeing the sun. Whereas everyone is wary of strangers and doesn't like to venture out of the mountains, I'm always getting told off for trying to sneak out into the outside world.

My Dad always knew of my yearning to go outside, so whenever he went on a mission, he'd let me say goodbye to him outside so I got to feel the breeze and sun on my face. I treasure those memories the most, as it showed how much my Dad and I loved each other. My chest ached and felt hollow as these memories rose and the spring in my step subsided slightly. It has been 6 years since his passing, but they had been extremely long and I still had to find out who'd ripped his life from this world. All I knew was that they were from Suna and that I never wanted to see that village.

Ever.

However, fate seemed to hate me today because the destination of our mission was the one place I despised the most. According to our mission, we were supposed to help get rid of a band of rouge ninja who'd been ransacking supplies which were getting shipped to...

"Suna?!" I shrieked. "Why?!"

Our leader, Aritomo Kagawa, sighed and linked his fingers together.

"I know you have a grudge against them Noemi, but you will have to let it slide. They are an incredibly powerful village and we need to build a stronger bond with them, just like we have with Konoha." He uttered, resting his chin on his entwined fingers.

A tic started above my right eyebrow and I gripped the scroll which contained our mission tighter than necessary. Teiji laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder and gave me a closed-eye smile. He was the sweetest guy I'd ever met, constantly looking out for me and lifting my spirits whenever I was down. Without him or Kaz I would've never gotten over Dad's death. If Teiji wasn't gay I probably would've asked him out already.

Ichiro-sensei eased the scroll from my grasp and bowed respectfully to Aritomo.

"We shall leave within the hour." He promised.

"Be back within 5 days." Aritomo ordered. "I can't afford to have you away from the village any longer than needed Ichiro."

Ichiro nodded and turned to go. My team mates and I bowed just like Ichiro-sensei had done and after muttering "Aritomo-sama" we exited the room swiftly. Sensei expected me to explode after we were out of earshot so the moment we were, he ruffled our hair and grinned.

"Get your bags packed guys and gals and meet me at the front gate within the hour!" He barked, grinning before using the transportation jutsu. I turned to vent my anger out on my team mates, but they had vanished from sight. I sighed and straightened my ponytail.

"Am I really that scary when I'm pissed?" I pondered, walking down the passageway to my apartment.

* * *

_Half an hour later..._

"Yosh! We're ready to go!" Ichiro-sensei cheered, hoisting his bag higher up his back. I raised my eyebrow.

"You seem happy today." I commented.

"It's been too long since we've been on a mission together. Reminds me of the good-old days." He shrugged. I smiled and glanced at Kaz and Teiji. Ever since we'd been promoted Chuunin, we'd hardly gone on any missions together, and if we did, it was never all of us at the same time. Hearing Kaz and Teiji argue about whether ramen or grilled chicken was better made me chuckle under my breath.

I'd missed this more than I'd realised.

"Now, Noemi. I know you don't like Suna but please don't let that get in the way of our mission. This bond is very important to Aritomo-sama, as well as the whole village." Ichiro-sensei rationalised. I took a deep breath and shook my head, smiling.

"Don't worry Sensei, I'll behave." I reassured. The gate guards stepped forward and placed their hands against the rock. Slowly, their hands glowed blue and it spread into the surrounding rock. A low rumbling sounded and the rock tardily rose, revealing the bright light of the sun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chappie! ^_^**

**For you guys who didn't read the updated notes in the last chapter (don't worry, I'll forgive you this time) this story is gonna be quite fast paced so don't start moaning if you think they're getting lovey-dovey too soon. I struggle to write long stories so this is the perfect cure for me =P**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto T_T**

* * *

"I fucking hate sand!" Kazuko moaned, sitting on the ground and taking off her shoe. She shook it and a waterfall of sand flowed out from it. I giggled and stretched my arms, wincing as the sun burned my eyes. "When will the desert end?"

"Kaz-chan, Suna is _in _the desert. You're gonna have to put up with it for a while longer." Teiji teased. Kaz shot death glares at him and started up a screaming rant while I surveyed the landscape with Ichiro-sensei. The dunes seemed to go on for miles, but in the distance I could just about make out the buildings of Sunagakure. Dread filled my heart as I thought about entering the place where the murders of my Dad lived, but I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. I'd made a promise to Sensei and I wasn't about to break it.

"Say, Ichiro-sensei, how much further?" Kaz asked, her face red from sunburn as well as her ranting. Sensei chuckled and pointed towards the village.

"It's just beyond those dunes."

"Which bloody dunes?! There's millions of them!"

Teiji tutted and pulled Kaz's scarf over her face.

"Much better." He commented, retreating quickly and setting off in the direction Ichiro-sensei had pointed. I re-adjusted my own scarf over my mouth and nose and followed Teiji, leaving an angry Kaz in Sensei's care.

* * *

"Welcome to Suna!" A cheerful gate guard greeted us, handing the mission scroll back to Ichiro-sensei and waving us through the gate. Clutching the straps of my bag tightly, I glanced around the village. It was incredibly bland here, with no colour apart from the never-ending brown. Grains of sand snuck into my scarf and up my nose, causing me to sneeze. Groaning, I rubbed my nose and ignored Kaz's snickering.

"Your sneezes are hilarious." She remarked. "Sounds like elephant getting shot out of a cannon."

"I've never heard that one before." Teiji frowned. I rolled my eyes and shoved Kaz, who wasn't expecting it and fell flat on her back. I stared in surprise before doubling over with laughter. Teiji soon joined in and Ichiro-sensei rushed over to see what the commotion was about.

"Oh, Kaz-chan." He chuckled, holding out a hand to her. "What are we going to do with you?"

Kaz grumbled something unintelligible under her breath but managed a small grin nonetheless. Wiping my eyes, I gazed up at the building in front of us and realised with a shock that it was the Kazekage's building. I noticed the others watching me out of the corner of my eye and grinned at them, managing to hide the panic which was building up inside of me.

* * *

"Come in." Came a cool voice the moment we knocked and sent shivers down my spine. I had a feeling that I'd heard that voice somewhere before...

Ichiro-sensei pushed the door open and ushered us in. I couldn't stop my jaw dropping open as I took in the person who was in the Kazekage's seat.

...Gaara?!

The last time I'd seen him was at the Chuunin exams in Konoha where I'd first met Naruto and his friends. I had nightmares about Gaara for a week afterwards after seeing his transformation into Shukaku.

Kaz, Teiji and Ichiro-sensei obviously remembered him to as I heard some not-very-well stifled gasps emit from them. Gaara's eyes widened slightly when he saw us, so I gathered he remembered us as well. Speaking of his eyes, they'd lost the edge of coldness they'd previously had and it was replaced with something softer and more human.

"Welcome to Sunagakure." He greeted, laying down the stack of papers he'd been reading when we came in. "I hope your journey here was satisfactory."

"Could've been worse." Ichiro-sensei replied. He walked right up to Gaara's desk and placed the mission scroll on it. "I trust you know why we're here."

"Indeed I do." Gaara said, opening the scroll and reading it anyway. As he did so, I took this time to observe his office. Stacks of paper were neatly stored away on his desks and shelves, and his open drawer showed how crammed it was with folders. Looks like being Kazekage was keeping him busy. I let my gaze wander and it settled on a picture on his desk. It showed him and his siblings, Temari and Kankuro, standing outside the Kazekage building. They hadn't changed much, apart from the fact they wore slightly different clothing and Temari looked sterner than before. Despite their poker faces, I could tell they were happy.

I smiled. It was nice that they got along now, comparing their relationship back in the Chuunin exam where they were both petrified of Gaara. I suddenly felt a pair of piercing eyes on me and lifted my gaze to meet Gaara's. A flash of curiosity passed across his eyes but quickly vanished as he returned his gaze to the scroll before closing it.

"I have sorted out accommodation for all of you while you stay here." He started. "I hope it is to your likings. Temari, you can come in now."

The door opened and the blonde ninja walked in, her signature fan attached to her back. She gave a double take when she saw us but quickly replaced her shock with a smile.

"Wow, it's been a while Mountain nin." She said. "Good to see you again."

"You too." I replied, with a chorus of 'yeps' from Teiji and Kaz.

"Temari will show you to your rooms. If you need anything just ask her or my brother Kankuro. I trust you all remember him?"

"Cat ears? Yup, I remember him." Kaz grinned. I chuckled and Temari joined me.

"Goodbye." Gaara said, before turning back to his work. Temari waved her hand at us and we all followed her out of the Kazekage's office.

"He's changed so much..." I muttered, glancing back at the door we just came through which lead to Gaara. Temari glanced at me and a soft smile adorned her face.

"Naruto knocked a lot of sense into Gaara at the Chuunin exam. Without him, I doubt Gaara would be where he is now. You guys helped him as well, especially you Noemi."

"How?" I asked, surprised. "Sorry, I have terrible memory."

"She's not joking." Sensei added, earning a scowl from me. Temari snickered and opened the door which lead back out into the street.

"You'd better ask Gaara." She responded, her feet kicking up sand as she walked. "Whatever you did tell him, it's stayed with him all this time."

"Wow, did you declare your undying love for him or something?" Kaz scoffed.

"I wonder how that went down." Teiji added, winking at me. I narrowed my eyes and gave him my don't-fuck-with-me glare. The way he gulped and started increasing his speed to get away from me suggested that I could compete with Sasuke in a glaring contest. If only the duck-butt didn't decide to go to Orochimaru...

"Here we are." Temari said, gesturing to an inn. "It has a cold springs as well."

"Cold springs?" Sensei asked, confused. "Isn't it hot springs?"

"Would you want to take a dip in a hot springs in this weather?"

"Good point."

Temari shook her head humorously and waved at us.

"I'm going try and find, who you call, cat ears. By the way, there's a meeting in a few hours about where you guys are going to guard so you can ambush the rouge nin. I'll come and collect you then. See you!"

And with that, she marched away in search of her brother. I looked back at the inn and grinned as I thought about bathing in cool, refreshing water after today's events. My team looked like they were exactly the same thoughts.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" Teiji roared, charging inside with Kaz close on his tail. I eyed Ichiro-sensei and quickly took off with him close at my heels.

God, I love my team.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next installment for you guys! =D**

**Also, I wanted to say thanks to GaaraRules29 for their lovely reviews! They make my day! ^_^**

**Disclaimer: What do you think? *Cries***

* * *

"This is so good." Kaz sighed, sinking deeper into the cool water so only her head showed. I grinned in agreement and rested my head back against the side of the bath. My sun-burnt skin was being soothed by the refreshing water and any remaining sand stuck to my body was long gone. I could hear splashing next door so I guessed that Teiji had started a water fight with Ichiro-sensei. The door to the bath suddenly opened and I look over my shoulder to see a couple of girls about the same age as me walk in, both of them giggling about something.

"Oh, hello." The one with long black hair greeted, dropping her towel and climbing into the water. "I don't think I've seen you two around here before."

"We're not from around here." I clarified as her friend joined us in the water. "We here to help you guys get rid of the rouge ninjas."

"Those bastards." Her friend growled. "They should know not to mess with Suna with Gaara-sama as Kazekage." As she said Gaara's name, a light pink tint spread across her cheeks and I gathered that she had a crush on him.

"I'm Sari, by the way." The black haired girl said. "And this is Matsuri. She's the lucky one with having Gaara-sama as her Sensei." She sighed and sunk lower into the water. I internally groaned. How many fan-girls did Gaara have? I heard Kaz snicker and couldn't help but giggle myself, but luckily the two girls were lost in their thoughts to pay us any attention. Next door, I heard the door slam open and a loud voice greet Teiji and Sensei.

"Oh, it's Kankuro." Matsuri sighed. "He's so loud!"

"Cat ears?! Oh my God Noemi! We need to say hi to him again!" Kaz chuckled. I laughed out loud and stood up, grabbing my towel from the side.

"Please don't pull his ears again like you did last time!" I pleaded, stepping out of the bath and wrapping my towel around myself. Kaz grumbled but didn't argue, standing up herself and snatching her own towel from the side. Matsuri and Sari stared at us confsued.

"Cat ears?" Matsuri asked.

"Yeah, we first met the Sand Siblings at the Chuunin exams in Konoha." Kaz explained, covering herself with her towel. She turned to me and grinned cheekily. "I wonder if Cat ears remembers us..."

"See you... Nomei, was it?" Sari called. I turned around and gave the girls a wave.

"Yeah, I'm Noemi and she's Kazuko." I replied. "See you!" Then I walked out of the room with Kaz on my heels.

* * *

"I never thought I'd share a bath house with Kankuro-kun." Teiji sighed. "My God he's hot!"

"Does he seriously look that different?" Kazuko asked, towel drying her hair viciously. Kaz, Teiji and I were all hanging out in mine and Kaz's room whilst Ichiro-sensei was still getting changed in his and Teiji's room.

"Believe you me, that make-up and hood hide all that glorious hotness."

I shook my head and put my hands on my hips. "I seriously doubt that."

There was a sudden knock on the door and a voice called out.

"Can I come in? It's Kankuro."

"Cat ears! Come on in!" Kaz yelled, running to the door and wrenching it open. Let me tell you, Teiji was certainly right about the make-up and hood hiding his hotness.

"... Kazuko right?" He asked, choosing to ignore her out burst. Kaz closed her open mouth and nodded, for once in her life being speechless. He grinned and slapped her on her shoulder. "Long time no see!"

"What am I? Invisible?" I joked. Kankuro spotted me and walked in, closing the door.

"Hey, Noemi!" He said. "Now that's a name I'll never forget."

"Why not?"

"Gaara mentions you often enough."

I was shocked to feel my cheeks heating up. "W-what?"

"He talks about Naruto a lot too. All about how you two changed his life." He gave me a serious look. "I can never thank you enough for that, and neither can Gaara."

"No problem." I replied whilst fiddling with my hair, the redness in my cheeks dying down. It was an annoying habit I always did whenever I was nervous. Suddenly, the door swung open and Sensei strode in with Temari. Kaz screamed and pretended to cover up her fully-clothed body with a towel.

"Knock when you're about to enter a lady's room!" She screeched. He instantly went bright red and went to exit the room when Kaz dropped the towel and laughed. "Only teasing you Sensei!"

Ichiro-sensei's eyes narrowed and he shut the door with a snap. "You're gonna be the death of me one day."

Temari watched the show with amusement in her eyes but eventually waved her hand to get everyone's attention.

"Right guys, the meeting is going to start shortly so I need you to come with me." She ordered. We all nodded and I grabbed my forehead protector on my way out.

* * *

The meeting was held in a small room, with only the Sand Siblings, my team, a few captains and an elder seated around the table. It was clear that the elder was still wary of Gaara has he gave him a few worried glances now and then. This somewhat angered me as I realised that even though Gaara had gained the trust of the village, he still needed to gain the trust of the elders. The meeting had already gone on for a while and now I could sense that Gaara was about to conclude it.

"Ichiro and Teiji, you shall accompany Rikyu's unit with attending to the shipments as they make there way here whilst Noemi and Kazuko, you two shall accompany Baki's unit with guarding the village borders. The units will proceed to their places in 2 hours." The Kazekage arranged. His eyes rested on me longer than needed and I subconsciously went to fiddle with my hair, before realising that it was down instead of being up in it's usual ponytail.

I was able to sit on my hair when it was down, but I found it infuriating so I always kept it up in a high ponytail. I would've got it cut, but my Dad often commented on how pretty my hair was long so I let it grow. Gaara suddenly stood to let us know the meeting was finished so we all followed suit, bowing respectfully before filing out the room. Outside, I rushed up to Kaz whilst gathering my hair into its usually ponytail.

"Kaz! Have you got a hair tie I could borrow?" I asked, making sure my forehead protector was still in its usual place. Kaz sighed and pulled a hair tie off her wrist.

"Here you go." She said. I gratefully took the hair tie from her and snapped it around my hair, tightening it slightly.

"Thanks."

"You should know that I always have a spare hair tie on me. But knowing your bad memory I bet you'd forgotten that."

I giggled awkwardly. "...Maybe."

"Hey, guys!" I heard someone call from behind us. I pivoted on my heel to see Kankuro strutting towards us with Temari in tow. "Want us to give you a tour of Suna? It's better than waiting around for a couple of hours before we go out."

"Sure, sounds cool." Kaz shrugged. "Whose unit are you guys with?"

"I'm with Rikyu's unit whilst Temari's with you and Baki." He answered. "I'll go see if Gaara wants to come."

"Won't he be busy with all that paper work?" I asked, remembering the mountains of paper on his desk from earlier on.

"Probably, but that won't stop Kankuro. Besides, Gaara needs to get out more and not stay cooped up in his office all the time. That stress will not do him any good." Temari said as Kankuro rushed off. He came back moments later practically dragging Gaara with him.

"Kankuro, I really must-" Gaara started but was cut off by Kankuro squeezing his shoulder.

"He can come. Let's go!" Kankuro cheered before marching off with Gaara. The red-head glanced back at me with a 'help me' look in his eyes. I couldn't resist sticking my tongue out at him before following the two brothers with the rest of my team and Temari.

* * *

"How the hell can you wear the colour black in this heat?!" Kaz asked, gesturing to Temari's and Kankuro's outfits. "Don't you die of, like, over heating or something? I'm dying here and I'm not even wearing black!"

"You get used to it." Kankuro shrugged. "It's never affected us that much as we've lived here our whole lives."

"It's better than living in a fucking mountain." I mumble. "At least you're able to go outside whenever you want."

"Tell me about it, I mean, how are you meant to get a good sun tan without ever seeing the sun?" Teiji complained. The Sand Siblings looked at him strangely.

"You're a guy and you worry tanning?" Kankuro said incredulously. Teiji nodded absently and left Kankuro in even more confusion. "No offence, but are you gay or something?"

"Yep."

Kankuro anime fell while Temari's mouth dropped open. Gaara's eyes widened but he said nothing.

"W-what?!"

"Are you seriously that shocked? I mean, didn't you see me checking you out in the cold springs?" Teiji commented, completely ignoring the fact that Kankuro turned bright red out of embarrassment and looked like he was choking on air. Temari wasn't bothering to hide her laughter anymore whilst Gaara was now openly smiling.

Wow... Gaara smiling...

Now I understood why he had so many fan-girls.

"Aww, Kanky! You've got an admirer!" Temari cooed, pinching Kankuro's cheek. Kaz burst out laughing and held her stomach.

"Kanky?! Oh my God I am so calling you that now!" She gasped, tears rolling down her cheeks from how hard she was laughing. Sensei, Teiji and I couldn't help but join in, and I was laughing so hard that I didn't sense Gaara coming up next to me.

"Are your team mates always like this?" He asked, making me jump out of my skin.

"Always. Why?" I replied, quickly getting over my mini-heart attack. I know he was a ninja and all but, Jesus, he moved so quietly!

Gaara smiled again. "Nothing. It's nice."

I grinned in return and watched my team take the piss out of Kankuro, who looked like he wanted to burrow into a hole and die. They looked pretty pre-occupied so I faced Gaara, linking my hands behind my back.

"So, are we continuing this tour or not?" I questioned, rocking back on my heels. The Kazekage nodded and turned away, gesturing for me to follow him. We left to go and see the market, leaving my team and his siblings rolling around in the sand dying of laughter.

At the market, I quickly spotted a stand selling clothes as well as hair ties, so I rushed up to buy some. When I came back with a pocket full (they always seemed to disappear on me) Gaara noticed them and his mouth turned down in a slight frown.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, it's just that, I think you look nicer with your hair down." He replied. I blinked a few times in shock as Gaara turned to walk away, but got over it and followed suit. As I walked behind him, I couldn't help but stare at his red hair and remember how vicious and blood-thirsty he was when he was younger. This older version of him was such a contrast, that I had a hard time believing that this still was Gaara. Smiling, I caught up with him and we continued with our tour.

As Gaara and I made our way through the village, I realised how many people respected him now. Lots of the villagers bowed respectably for him and I couldn't help noticing how many girls around our age and younger were openly ogling. Gaara seemed oblivious to their stares and continued showing me around. Suddenly, I couldn't stand it anymore and pulled him into an alleyway.

"How can you not notice?" I snapped, crossing my arms. He looked extremely baffled and blinked a few times before reply.

"Excuse me?"

"Can't you see how many stares you're getting from all those girls?"

He looked even more confused now. "...Girls are staring at me?"

I couldn't help but facepalm at his comment. "You seriously haven't noticed?"

"No... but why would they be staring at me?"

"Oh, I don't know, because they think you're hot?" Well, that came out more bluntly than I'd anticipated.

Gaara finally appeared to have grasped what I was trying to get across and a pink tinge came upon his cheeks. My eyes widened. Oh my Kami, Sabaku no Gaara was blushing! He was entirely lost for words and looked adorable.

Wait... did I just call him adorable?

"I-I've never noticed before." He stammered. I realised how awkward I'd made him feel and felt awful. I smiled slightly and patted his arm.

"I just thought I'd let you know... sorry about that." I apologised. I turned to go but I suddenly felt his grip on my arm. I turned to him to find him concentrating, as if he was trying to find the right words. "What?"

"Do you think that I'm, what you call, hot?" He asked, his eyes showing how serious his question was. I almost choked on my own spit and I could feel the heat rising dramatically in my cheeks. My mind brought back the memory of where I'd mentally called him _adorable_ and my heart started racing.

Why did he have to ask this question?!

"I-I... er..." I stuttered, not meeting his gaze. Suddenly, I sensed someone's presence and looked over my shoulder to see my team and Gaara's siblings standing at the entrance to the alleyway, all of them looking like Christmas had come early.

"Well, well well! What do we have here?" Kaz sang, crossing her arms.

"We can always come back later if we're interrupting something." Temari added.

Why didn't the ground hurry up and swallow me already?!

Gaara let go of my arm and walked towards the others with myself following him.

"I've just finished giving Noemi a tour of Suna and we were on our way back." Gaara said, as if he'd completely forgotten our previous conversation. Actually, I _wanted _him to forget that conversation!

"Are you sure that was that all you were doing?" Kankuro chuckled. "You two looked quite cosy in there."

I was internally screaming and willing the redness in my cheeks to vanish. Teiji looked at me and grinned cheekily.

"You okay there Noemi-chan?" He asked.

_Don't screw up, don't screw up..._

"... y-yes." I replied, my voice a few decibels higher than normal.

_... Crap._

My team chuckled in unison and I realised how much they were going to drill me for information later on. Goddammit.

"A-anyway, let's g-get going." I said, my voice relatively back to normal apart from the odd stuttering. Gaara nodded in agreement and we both walked away, painfully noticing the comments our companions were making behind our backs. I kept my arms crossed and my gaze on the sandy ground at all time, but this didn't stop me detecting the odd glance or two Gaara sent my way.


	4. Chapter 4

**Finally got a bit of action in this chapter! And no, I don't mean ****_that_**** sort of action you perverts ;)**

**Disclaimer: Of course I own Naruto! That's why I'm writing fanfiction about it! *...sighs sadly***

* * *

I rubbed my back, wincing when I touched the bruise forming there. Kazuko seemed a little too aggressive when drilling me for information about me Gaara and I talked about, thinking that it was appropriate to kneel on my back whilst she bent my arm behind my back and shouted questions at me. Teiji found the whole situation absolutely hilarious as he leant for support against the wall, occasionally wiping his eyes as he cried with laughter.

Kaz wandered up to me and linked her hands behind her head, staring out into the darkness. We were standing just in front of the village gate with Baki's unit, waiting for the rouge ninjas to turn up. I rubbed my hands together, my gloves doing nothing to protect my hands from the cold.

"Do you think they'll even turn up tonight?" Kaz asked. "The rouge nin, I mean."

"I don't know." I answered truthfully. "According to Gaara, they don't have a pattern they follow when they invade Suna. It's completely random."

"Aritomo-sama won't be pleased if we don't get back soon. He said he wanted us back within 5 days. It's been two days including the day it took for us to get here, so technically, we only have 2 days left."

"He said that to Ichiro-sensei, not to all of us. As long that Sensei gets back in time we're can stay here as long as we want, to an extension."

"You'll use any excuse to stay here longer with your precious Gaara won't you?" Kaz teased, nudging me with her elbow. I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

"Will you leave it be already? You've interrogated me enough you know."

"But it's so much fun taking the piss out of you!"

I stared at Kaz in disbelief and was about to punch her smug face when Baki walked up with Temari.

"Any disturbance here?" He asked, his stern and cold voice showing how much authority he had.

"None so far." I answered, standing up straighter. Baki nodded once and turned on the spot, walking back the way he came.

"What got shoved up his ass?" Kaz mumbled under her breath, crossing her arms. Temari smirked and leant on her fan.

"He's not so bad once you get to know him." Temari stated. "He was the Sensei of my team."

We stood in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, which was occasionally broken by Kaz stamping her feet in the sand in an attempt to warm them up.

"God I'm freezing my butt off here." She complained. "How much longer are we on guard duty for?"

"A few more hours." I replied, remembering the meeting with Gaara earlier on. We were meant to swap with another unit round about 3am, and it was about midnight now. We'd started our guard duty at 9pm and all I wanted to do now was curl up in my bed and get warm.

"How are you not affected my the cold?" Kaz questioned Temari. "You live in a blistering hot desert and yet you're not shivering when it's suddenly drops below 0 degrees at night?"

Temari gave her a smug grin. "You could say that I'm used to it."

Kaz groaned and face palmed.

"Next time we do this you should steal Teiji's hot water bottle." I giggled. Kaz scoffed but suddenly gave me a devious smile.

"You won't need one will you?" She laughed. "I mean, you have Gaara to snuggle up to, don't you?"

This time, I did punch her in the face.

* * *

"Well, that was a waste of time." Teiji yawned, stretching his arms. "A whole 7 hours guarding the supplies in the freezing cold, and yet no rouge nin turn up."

"Better get some sleep cause we're doing it all over again tonight." I said fake-cheerfully, Both my team mates groaned and collapsed onto my bed. The guard duties had been switched around so Baki's unit were now accompanying the supplies whilst Rikyu's unit were guarding he gate to the village. There was a knock on the door and I stood up to answer, tying on my forehead protector as I did.

Gaara's comment about my hair had a strange effect on me so instead of wearing it in its usual high plait or ponytail, I wore it loose. I opened the door and Ichiro-sensei stood there, looking entirely awake compared to myself and my team mates.

"Yosh! Let's go and do some training!" He cheered. My team mates and I sweat dropped.

"We've just changed into our casual outfits, and now you want us to go and train?" Kaz groaned, an impressive bruise surrounding her eye. Sensei blinked at her and gestured to it.

"What happened-"

"Don't ask."

Sensei let his arm drop and shrugged, dropping the matter

"Anyway, he training isn't just with me you know, the Sand Siblings have offered to join in as well."

This definitely raised my teams' spirits as they both jumped up and rushed to the door. Outside the inn Temari, Kankuro and – to my surprise – Gaara stood waiting for us.

"Let's see how you guys have improved since the Chuunin exams." Kankuro grinned. "Speaking of which, are you guys all Chuunins now?"

"Yup!" Kaz said proudly. "In fact, Noemi here has been offered the rank of Jounin!"

I blushed and fiddled with my hair. Yes, Aritomo-sama has proposed the idea to me of becoming a Jounin but I haven't given him an answer yet. I don't know why, but I don't think I was ready of the rank of Jounin just yet.

"Hey, congrats!" Temari said, looking impressed. I opened my mouth to say that I wasn't a Jounin when Sensei cut in.

"So, I was thinking that Noemi could do some one-on-one with Temari because they share the same affinity whilst Kaz and Kankuro have their own match. Teiji and I will do some sparring."

I instantly felt sympathy for Teiji as sparring with Sensei was one of the most painful ways to die. Ever since he'd made friends with Guy in Konoha at the Chuunin exams, he'd been acting differently and would perpetually make time for us to do as much training as we could, even if it killed us.

"What about Gaara-kun?" Teiji asked, desperate to find a way out of sparring with Ichiro-sensei.

"Gaara said he's just going to watch and observe." Sensei replied. "Right, Gaara?"

The red head nodded but said nothing. Sensei clapped his hands together.

"Right! Let's get moving!"

"So, you have wind affinity then?" Temari asked me as we followed Ichiro-sensei.

"Yeah, as well as water." I replied, matching my pace to hers. I was about to tell her about my kekkei genkai but I decided to surprise her with it instead while we were battling.

"What about the rest of your team?"

"Kaz has earth affinity whilst Teiji has water."

Temari nodded absently and glanced over at Teiji. "About Teiji... is he really gay?"

"Yup. I thought you knew?"

"I did... but I wanted to make sure. Also, does he say everyone's names with affixes?"

"Yeah, he always does. He's just like that I suppose." I looked over at my lovable team mate and saw him trying to chat up Kankuro, but failing miserably. "I can't believe he's still flirting with Kankuro."

"Better than flirting with Gaara; the poor guy wouldn't know what hit him." Temari giggled. We suddenly both had a picture in our minds of Teiji giving Gaara a huge box of chocolates and flowers and simultaneously burst out laughing. Our companions stopped talking to look at us strangely as Temari and I hung onto each other for support.

"Are you two alright?" Gaara asked, looking slightly concerned. This only caused us to laugh even harder and I fell onto the floor, clutching my stomach

"D-don't worry G-gaara." Temari gasped, wiping her eyes. "It's a g-girl thing."

The Kazekage didn't look convinced, but he looked more reassured that we weren't dying of oxygen deprivation or something. Wordlessly, he held out his hand to me. My laughter died in my throat as I stared at his hand hovering above me. Not wanting to be rude, I placed my hand in his and let myself be pulled up. His hand, surprising, was quite warm to touch with his skin being slightly rough from wear and tear.

As I stood there, lost in my thoughts, I realised just how close we were standing together and that my hand was still in his. Blushing protrusively, I wrenched my hand away more harshly than I'd intended and took a step back. Looking up, I saw that his eyes were boring into me, emotions flickering on their surfaces but not fully showing what he felt. My hand immediately felt cold without his warmth and I rubbed my arm with it out of nerves, and also willing it to warm up again.

"Thanks." I mumbled, lowering my eyes and staring at my feet like they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"No problem." I heard him reply quietly. Our companions had all turned to stare at our Gaara's little display and I wished that they wouldn't. Sensei seemed to notice the awkwardness in the air and clapped loudly.

"Right, this area will do! Temari and Noemi, you two go and fight over there, Kaz and Kankuro you two over there and Teiji, you come with me!" He called, pointing to our destinations. "Gaara, you can observe whoever you want first."

We all nodded and walked to our goals and I noticed, with a relief, that Gaara had gone to observe Kaz and Kankuro first. Temari and I stood a distance apart and she opened her fan.

"Hope you're ready Noemi." She called. "Because I'm not going to hold back."

"I don't want you to anyway." I called back, grinning.

* * *

Kneeling on one knee and taking deep, painful breaths, I noticed Temari stalking towards me, limping slightly after my previous attacks. Smiling, I did a backward flip into the air, my hands performing seals.

"Acid style: Burning skin!" I yelled, shooting balls of burning acid out of my mouth. Whilst my opponent dodged quite a few of them she miscalculated the speed of them and several hit their mark. She hissed in pain and grabbed her arm, collapsing onto one knee like how I was before. I ran around so I was facing her injured side and made some more hand seals.

"Acid style: Biting mist!" I shouted, before shooting more acid out of my mouth. However, this time as the acid hit the ground it hissed and released clouds of pale green mist, surrounding Temari. She immediately began to writhe in pain as the toxic mist touch her skin and, using this to my advantage, I darted in. Being the user of this kekkei genkai I was immune to the effects of the mist so I had no problem being in it. I delivered several kicks and punches to Temari, each of them hitting their mark and cause her to groan in pain.

We both knew that I'd won so I whipped out my two fans out of my pockets.

"Wind style: Rising breeze!" I said, raising my fans to my chest and sweeping them out in one sharp motion. Straight away, the mist lifted and left me standing victoriously with Temari laying defeated at my feet.

"Good match." I said, smiling. Temari coughed and turned her head so she could see me.

"You didn't say you had a kekkei genkai." She whispered hoarsely, the mist still burning her throat. I shrugged and knelt beside her, hovering my hands above her burnt arm.

"You didn't ask."

A soft green glow surrounded my hands and Temari's burnt skin started to heal and return to it's normal texture, the only difference being that it was slightly pinker than before. I heard muffled footsteps and looked up, shocked to see Gaara standing there.

"G-gaara!" I cried. "When did you get here?"

"Round about the time Temari knocked you down into that crater over there." He answered. I winced at the memory but continued healing Temari, moving my hands to her legs where the acid had splashed them. "I'm surprised you didn't use your kekkei genkai at the Chuunin exams."

"I hadn't mastered it then." I replied truthfully, now hovering my hands over Temari's throat. "Sensei was still teaching me how to use it and I didn't trust myself to use it correctly."

"What clan are you from? I haven't heard of a clan that used an acid kekkei genkai before."

My hands stopped glowing and I helped Temari to sit up.

"Honestly, I don't know. I was found outside Sanmyaku when I was a baby, with only a note saying what my name was." I said quietly. Gaara went silent and I lowered my eyes. Temari noticed the tension and winced, rubbing the back of her head.

"Ouch, now I know why you're a Jounin Noemi." She laughed. I smiled slightly.

"I'm not a Jounin."

The two siblings stared at me.

"But I thought Kaz said-"

"She said that I'd been offered the rank of Jounin, but I haven't accepted it yet."

"Why not?" Gaara asked.

I shrugged, not wanting to answer because I didn't have an exact answer myself. Suddenly, I heard Kankuro yell in victory and rush over to us with the rest of my team in tow.

"I can't believe you whooped Temari's ass Noemi!" He laughed. I chuckled, helping Temari to stand up.

"What where the results?" I asked.

"Well, I managed to beat Kaz and Ichiro-san got beaten by Teiji."

My mouth dropped open. "Teiji beat Sensei?!"

"Wow, thanks for believing in me." Teiji scoffed, crossing his arms. I squealed and wrapped my arms around Teiji in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh my God! Well done you!" I laughed, not noticing that Teiji was turning interesting shades of blue and purple. Kaz tapped me on the shoulder and I let go, still grinning madly. I turned to Kaz and stuck my tongue out at her.

"Sucks to be you, loser!"

Kaz gaped at me. "Hey! I was this close you kicking Kanky's ass you know!"

"For the hundredth time, stop calling me that!" Kankuro roared, pulling at his cat ears.

I was still laughing, somehow becoming hyper from the results of Teiji and Sensei's match.

"Whatever Kaz! You still got beaten by a guy who wears cat ears!"

Kaz punched me on the arm. "Shut up already!"

"No! It's pay back for you taking the piss out of me for you-know-what!"

Kaz suddenly grinned shiftily. "Hey guys, don't you think that Gaara and Noemi should have a match?"

My grin slipped from my face. "What?"

Ichiro-sensei chuckled. "I think that is a very good idea."

Teiji, Kankuro and Temari all nodded. We all turned to Gaara who still stood, not moving, with his arms crossed.

"Noemi shouldn't get herself tired out before going out on guard duty." Gaara argued. I nodded vigorously in agreement but everyone ignored me.

"Oh come on! It's not for hours yet! Also, you two haven't had your first lover's tiff yet and this is the perfect opportunity!" Kaz said. I sent her a shut-up-or-you-die look but she ignored me once again. Gaara turned to me, obviously having chosen to disregard Kaz's comment.

"Noemi?"

I groaned and rubbed my hand down my face, knowing I wasn't getting out of this.

"Fine. Let's do this."


	5. Chapter 5

**Next chapter alert! .**

**Do you know how hard it is to keep Gaara in character when there's loads of lovey-dovey shit happening?! Extremely! So be warned that he's gonna be quite OOC in his P.O.V!**

**Btw thank you guys for all your wonderful reviews! I still find it hard to believe that you're all actually reading my story and enjoying it! =3**

**FYI: You'll get to find out more about Noemi and Gaara's past in the next chapter so be patient! ;)**

**Disclaimer: Do you think that if I bribed Kishimoto with cookies, he'll give ownership of Naruto to me?**

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"Water style: Flood tide!" I yelled hoarsely, before a torrent of water flowed out of my mouth. The waves crashed towards Gaara whose sand immediately rose to protect him. Just as I predicted, the water soaked the sand and turned it into mud, leaving him momentarily defenseless. I took this chance to use my kekkei genkai and burn the mud, but my plan failed me as several hard mud balls rose and pelleted towards me. I whipped out my fans.

"Wind style: Rising gale!" I shouted, pushing the fans out and away from my chest. The mud balls were instantly forced off course by the wind and gave me the chance to formulate a new plan, as I watched some new, dry sand float around Gaara's immobile figure. The battle had been going on for a while now and we were both battered and worn out, me coming out worse. Gaara suddenly yelled out a jutsu and slammed his hands to the ground. The ground beneath me started to move and I felt myself sinking.

"Quick sand." I muttered, jumping out before the sand engulfed me and made a hand sign. "Shadow clone jutsu!"

A replica clone of myself formed in the air next to me and it grabbed my hands and swung me round so that I sailed out of the quick sand's range and landed on solid ground. My clone disappeared and my gaze met Gaaras.

"Nice move Noemi!" Kaz yelled from the sidelines. "Now whip his ass already!"

I rolled my eyes but at the same time formed hand signs.

"Water style: Disguised fire!" I yelled, shooting out so-called water pellets from my mouth. Gaara's sand once again rose to defend him and using the sand as a shield from his eyesight, I jumped over to the side, watching the sand fall down behind his feet and quickly grabbing my fans out of my pockets. "Wind style: Thrusting winds!"

I waved the fans in a downward arc towards Gaara, and watched him get forced back a few steps, his sand absorbing most of the blow. However, my plan fell into place as he stepped on his previously used sand and his sandals started to burn.

Since the sand in his gourd had been rendered useless after my water attack, he has been forced to use the sand around him. The sand he'd just stepped on had also been soaked with my latest water attack, but it wasn't just water in that sand. I'd used my kekkei genkai in that jutsu as well, so right now the disguised acid was eating away at his sandals. Jumping over his head, I made a clone and readied my fans.

"Wind style: Thrusting winds!" I yelled once more. Gaara fell onto his butt with the force of my jutsu and he covered his head, not being able to use the sand from his gourd. Once my jutsu has finished, my clone jumped in and delivered a series of kicks to Gaara. His amour of sand protected him but that didn't him being thrown a few feet. I went to perform my finishing jutsu which would win me this match when I groaned and fell to my knees.

"Crap, I've used all my chakra." I hissed, looking up. Gaara was standing above me, cracks in his armour showing and he'd taken his sandals off. I felt sand covering my legs and arms and sighed, knowing that this fight was over. Everyone else sensed this as well and they all ran over, grins covering their faces.

"That was a hell of a fight!" Teiji laughed, slapping my shoulder. I grimaced as he hit a bruise and rubbed the sore spot, feeling the sand retreat. A hand entered my field of vision and I glanced up to see Gaara offering his hand to me, his sand amour fixing itself before my eyes. A sense of deja-vu came over me as I grabbed his hand and he pulled me to my feet. A deep cut in my leg suddenly twinged in pain and I gasped, my knees buckling. I would've fallen flat on my butt if Gaara didn't catch me by wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me against his chest. My breath caught in my throat and I froze, hearing a few giggles from Temari and Kaz.

"Woah, Gaara! Get in there bro!" Kankuro called, adding a few cat calls. I felt Gaara tense and I felt his arm constrict around me. I couldn't help notice how warm he was, and how safe I felt in his arms. I almost melted into him, but I realised that this situation was getting more awkward by the minute so I raised my arms to my chest and pushed at his chest slightly, hopefully he would get the meaning of my gesture. He caught on quickly and pulled back his arm from my waist slowly and we stepped back from each other. My cheeks were on fire and he wouldn't meet my gaze, keeping it at his feet. I suddenly realised why he was barefoot and felt guilty, since his sandals had been damaged due to the acid.

"S-sorry about your sandals." I stammered, fiddling with my hair. He shook his head and smiled slightly.

"Don't worry about it." He reassured me. Kaz came up to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulders.

"Let's get you cleaned up." She said, gently pulling me away. "That wound on your leg needs tending to."

"Good idea." I mumbled, feeling faint all of a sudden. She steered me away from the group, letting me lean against her.

* * *

"That was the cutest sight ever!" Kaz giggled, her hands glowing green as they hovered over my leg. "I wish I'd gotten a photo!"

"Oh, shut up." I replied, too tired to start a proper argument. Looks like I was off guard duty tonight, due to the fact that I'd reached my limit in the battle. Kaz, finished with healing me, took her hands away and straightened up. I sat up slowly on my bed and stretched, wincing at my sore muscles.

"You should've seen the way he was looking at you during that hug."

"It wasn't a hug- wait, what?" I stared at her, letting my arms drop to my sides.

Kaz grinned, knowing that she'd got my attention. "He was looking at you like... he was holding something precious that he wanted to protect."

My eyes widened as I looked at her. "No..."

She nodded. "Yes."

"N-no!"

"Yes."

"No...!"

"Yes..."

"No, no, no."

"Yes, yes, yes."

"...No."

"Oh for Kami's sake, YES!"

I collapsed onto my bed, groaning. Kaz cheered in victory and sat on my bed, bouncing slightly.

"You can't deny it. He likes you."

"But... why me?" I breathed. "Why would he like me?"

Kaz sighed. "Why wouldn't he? You're smart, pretty, funny and a hell of a good fighter! If I was gay I would've asked you out ages ago!" I raised an eyebrow at her and she blinked at me innocently. "What?"

I sighed. "What do I do?"

She looked at me seriously, all traces of humour gone. "Do you like him?"

My eyes glazed over as I thought about Gaara.

...Gaara.

Where did I start? He had this aura that made me feel like I was safe around him, and his eyes were captivating. Not to mention that he was incredibly good-looking. His smile was breath taking and he had a subtle sense of humour, as well as being caring towards his peers. Basically, he was everything I was looking for in a man. I've never said it out loud but I've often wondered what it would be like to run my fingers through his red locks, and see if it was as soft as it looked. A tender blush crept onto my cheeks and Kaz smiled lightly, knowing her answer. I groaned and slammed my pillow over my face.

"Don't you fucking _dare _tell anyone!" I mumbled into the cushion. Kaz laughed and pulled the pillow off my face.

"I may be mean but I'm not _that _mean." She said. "However, I think that Temari will find out your secret sooner or later."

"How?"

"Girls know these things. Might as well get it over and done with and tell her. Besides, she may help you get a date with Gaara."

I grabbed my pillow back and whacked her over the face with it.

* * *

_**Gaara's P.O.V.**_

As I sat in my office with stacks of paper work in front of me, I couldn't help but let my mind wander over what happened with Noemi. My hand unconsciously went to the left of my chest and I clutched the material which lay over my heart.

I had managed over these past few years to understand the concept of loving someone just like I did my siblings, but this was a different kind of love. It felt alien to me and I was confused about how I loved Noemi.

Did I love her as a friend? Or was it something more than that?

I groaned and held my head in my hands, the paperwork forgotten. A knock sounded against my door and I glanced up, annoyance clearly shown in my features.

"Come in." I called, straightening up in my chair and wiping my face clean of emotion. Temari cautiously opened the door and peered in, obviously not wanting to disturb me when I was working. The moment she saw my expression she grinned hugely and positively skipped into the room, slamming the door behind her.

"I knew it." She sang. I raised one of my non-existent eyebrows, speculating what my so-called blank expression had given away.

"You know what?"

"You like Noemi."

I wondered what she was getting at. "Yes, I do."

She gaped at me for a moment before sighing and shaking her head. "No, not as a friend. I mean that you like _like _her."

I was even more confused now. "Like... _like _her?"

Temari face palmed. "I mean you like her more than a friend! You like her as though you want to be her boyfriend."

My eyes widened and I felt my cheeks heating up, finally realising what she meant. So this was the new type of love that I was feeling?

Temari watched my expression change and smiled. "You do, don't you?"

I leant back in my chair, linking my hands together nervously. "I... I guess I do."

Temari squealed and jumped on the spot, clapping her hands together. "This is just too cute! I have to get you two out on a date together!"

"A date? But I don't even know if she, how you put it, like _likes _me back."

My sister winked at me and started towards the door.

"She does, don't you worry."

"How do you know?"

She rested her hand on the door knob and glanced over her shoulder at me.

"Us girls know these things." She stated, before opening the door and walking out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Flashback time! =D**

**Hope you guys enjoy it! I think this may be the longest chapter yet! The flashback was about 3 pages long which may not sound much but it was a hell of a lot longer then I'd intended it to be! O.o**

**Disclaimer: I think you guys probably know now that I TOTALLY OWN NARUTO! WOOO! *coughs***

**Btw I can't actually remember which scroll the Sand Trio started out with in the anime so apologies if I got it wrong 'cause I was too lazy to re-watch the episode XD Feel free to correct me if you do know though! =) xx**

* * *

"I'm so bored!" I groaned. "When can I get back out onto guard duty?!"

"If you exert your chakra supply anymore you would damage your chakra pathways and you would no longer be able to form chakra, or worse, you would die." Kaz said bluntly.

I blinked, taken back. "Thanks for that information."

"You're very welcome. Now, get some sleep and recover so Gaara will stop worrying so much."

"W-what?" I stuttered. "Gaara's worried about me?"

"Of course." Kaz said, smugly. "He's also waiting outside to come and see you."

I gaped, before sitting up straight and running my fingers through my hair. "But I look like shit!"

Kaz laughed loudly and shook her head in amusement. "You look fine, at least you had a shower last night."

I rolled my eyes and leant back into my bed, sighing.

"I don't know why everyone is making a huge fuss over me. I'm just low on chakra!"

"We're worrying 'cause we love you." Kaz simpered, making a kissy face at me. I gave a bark of laughter and shoved her away from me. She quickly regained her balanced and skipped towards the door, before opening it and talking to Gaara outside. Butterflies erupted in my stomach as I spotted his trademark red hair and I nervously clenched the duvet in my hands. Finally, they stopped talking and Gaara stepped into my room, gently shutting the door behind him.

"Hi." I greeted, smiling as he made his way over to me. "This is an unexpected visit."

"I just wanted to make sure that you are well." He responded, standing at a respectable distance from my bed. I smiled at his politeness and fiddled nervously with my hair as an awkward tension decided to settle. However, it was soon broken when Gaara opened his mouth to speak.

"Do you remember when we first properly met?" He asked. "In The Forest of Death?"

I blinked at the sudden question but nodded nonetheless, bits and pieces of the memory resurfacing.

"Didn't you and your siblings try to steal my team's earth scroll?" I mused. Gaara dutifully nodded and relaxed his posture slightly, leaning heavily on one leg.

"Yes that's right. That was also the moment when I began to doubt my thoughts about only loving myself."

My eyes widened at his statement and my mind flicked back to the times when Kankuro and Temari had thanked me for helping change their brother.

_So this is what they were talking about. _I thought as I delved into a flashback.

* * *

_**FLASHBACK**_

"_I can't believe we haven't seen anyone yet." Teiji said, brushing past an oversized leaf. "Either we're just lucky or we're never gonna find the other scroll we need."_

"_Don't jinx it." Kazuko muttered, rubbing her arms anxiously. "I don't particularly want to meet anyone here anyway."_

"_Then how else do you expect us to find the other scroll then?" I asked, nudging her with my elbow. Kaz shrugged and lightly stepped over a dip in the ground._

"_I dunno, hopefully it fell out of someone's bag when they weren't looking and is lying somewhere waiting for us to pick it up."_

_Teiji snorted from in front of us. "I wish."_

_We continued in silence, occasionally being broken by the sound of the leaves rustling in the trees. Suddenly, footsteps echoed from in front of us and we instinctively crouched down low, my kunai ready in my hand instantly. From the corner of my eye I spotted a trickle of sand snake across the ground and my eyes widened in fright, remembering the red-headed genin from Suna. I signalled to Kaz and Teiji to hide and we simultaneously clambered up quietly into a nearby tree, peering through the wall of leaves._

_Moments later the Suna genin stepped into the opening where my team mates and I were before and scanned the area, his black-rimmed eyes narrowing. A second boy followed shortly; completely dressed in black._

"_I told you that there was no one here, Gaara." He sighed exasperatedly. "You were just hearing things."_

_Out of the blue the boy got smacked on the head by a taller blond girl, who carried a huge fan on her back._

"_Shut up Kankuro." She hissed. "If Gaara said he heard something then listen to him." Even from up in the canopy I could sense the faint trace of fear in her voice. The boy supposedly named Kankuro went to snap back at the girl when the red-head called Gaara gazed up at where my team where hiding, catching the attention of his companions. I audibly gulped when his sea-foam eyes focused in on me._

"_Up there." He said, his raspy voice cutting right through me. I barely had time to whisper 'crap' when a massive burst of wind knock my team and I out of the tree, sending us tumbling down into the hands of our enemies. Coughing from the amount of dust I'd inhaled from my journey back to the ground, I looked up and saw the girl wielding her fan with a smug grin on her face. I made a move to jump to my feet when a stream of sand rushed past and latched onto Teiji's leg, grazing my cheek as it did so._

"_Shit, Teiji!" Kaz cried as he was hoisted up into the air, yelling as the sand tightened its hold. She scrambled to her feet with a kunai in hand when she abruptly disappeared from my sight, an immense wooden contraption standing in her place. My mouth dropped open at the speed of these genin but soon snapped shut as her cries emitted from within her wooden prison. I leapt up and barely had time to scoop up my stray kunai when the girl positioned herself in front of my path, holding her fan out in front of her offensively._

_I bared my teeth at her but screamed internally when Gaara slowly brought a whimpering Teiji closer to him, crossing his arms as he did so._

"_Where is your scroll?" He ordered, obviously not wanting to mess around. Teiji said nothing and just hung there helplessly. This clearly wasn't the answer Gaara was hoping for as a malicious glint sparked in his usual emotionless eyes._

"_If you do not answer then I'm going to have to start harming your comrades." He continued, oblivious to the strained looks his team mates were giving him. I was surprised to find that they weren't as keen as Gaara was to hurt us, as Kankuro seemed to flash a guilty look in Kaz's direction when he strode towards the casket. Refusing to let my comrades get hurt because of me, I dropped my weapon and raised my arms in surrender._

"_Wait, wait." I said. The trio glanced suspiciously at me as I began to rummage in my backpack for our scroll. The girl strengthen her stance as I grasped the scroll, possibly wondering if I was going to whip out a secret weapon. The thought had crossed my mind but after witnessing the speed of these genin and that it was three on one, I'd chosen the route which gave my team mates and I a chance of getting out of this situation unscathed. Finally, I pulled the scroll out of my bag and held it out in front of me. "This is what you want, right?"_

_Gaara peered at the scroll, before flicking his line of sight back up to my eyes. I guessed that he was pondering whether it was a trap or not, but decided against it as he nodded to the girl._

"_Take it, Temari." He rasped. She obeyed immediately and snatched the scroll out of my hand. She inspected it and suddenly sighed, distinctly annoyed._

"_It's an earth scroll." She reported. "We already have that one."_

_I released a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding, relief washing through me. This meant that we'd get to keep our scroll and they would let us go. Unfortunately, Gaara didn't seem to be thining along the same lines as me as his brown furrowed and a low growl escaped from him. Temari and Kankuro visibly tensed and I guessed that things weren't about to turn in our favour._

"_Come on, let's go then." Kankuro urged, flexing his fingers so that I could see his chakra strings shine weakly in the bleak sunlight. Ah, so he was a puppeteer. I'd heard of them from Ichiro-sensei but had never actually seen one in action before. That explained the strange doll which Kaz was currently trapped in._

_Gaara turned his gaze onto his male companion, who flinched under the intense stare. The sand which surrounded the red-head stirred as if it was waking up and I couldn't help but back up one step. Things were getting incredibly dangerous very quickly. I had to get my team out of there before they got injured – or worse. Swallowing my terror, I straightened my back and retook the step I'd previously evacuated. Temari's attention spontaneously refocused back on me as she'd been previously following the interaction between Kankuro and Gaara._

"_Look," I started, sincerely hoping that my voice wasn't shaking like my hands were. "since we're no longer any use to you, why don't you let us go? I mean, there's nothing else we can offer you as we have the same scrolls." I hated the idea of pleading to this cold-blooded boy, but if it meant that Teiij and Kaz got away unharmed then I was all up for it. Gaara sneered at me and almost appeared to flourish Teiji's incapacitated form in front of me._

"_You sound so pathetic right now." He said bluntly. "Why don't you just run and save yourself instead of trying to protect your worthless comrades?"_

_I bristled at that comment and resisted the urge to plant my hands on my hips and give him a are-you-kidding-me look. Alternatively, I clenched my fists and squarely looked him in the eyes._

"_My friends are not worthless." I uttered. "Not only that but I know they are probably thinking along the same lines as you are now."_

_Confusion flickered behind those cold eyes but I continued regardless._

"_They are most likely urging me to run and save myself, because they don't want me to sacrifice myself for them. Do you know why that is?"_

_It was clear that he didn't but I paused just for the effect, and to let it sink in as Temari and Kankuro were hanging onto my every word. Hopefully they would take heed and persuade their team mate to let us go if my word's went straight into Gaara's ear and out the other._

"_It's because we all care for each other. Kaz and Teiji are like siblings to me and they've often told me the same thing. There is no way I would let the likes of you touch a hair on their heads because I would rather die then watch them suffer right in front of my eyes."_

_I probably went a bit overboard in my emotional speech but to see the complete and utter shock in Gaara's eyes was so worth it. The best part was that he knew I meant every single word of it, and that confused him to no end._

"_But..." He stuttered, scrunching his non-existent eyebrows and lowering Teiji ever so slightly. "Why..."_

"_Gaara." Temari said softly, suddenly dropping her defensive posture and going to his side. "Let's go."_

"_Yeah, I mean, we're wasting time here talking to her." Kankuro added, trying to sound casual but insistent at the same time. "Let them go, little brother."_

_I almost choked on air as I heard those words, recognising the fact that the part of my speech about sibling relationships had most likely had a huge effect on him. Gaara's eyes hardened at Kankuro's choice of words but he wordlessly let Teiji sink to the ground and released him, the sand retreating back into the gourd on his back. My male friend sat frozen in place as Kankuro audibly sighed in relief, flicking his hands so that Kaz tumbled out onto the ground next to Teiji. _

_Temari chucked our scroll back to me and offered me a soft smile, silently thanking me for my outburst. I put on a poker-face, not wanting to express any more of my emotions to someone who I still considered my enemy. As the Suna trio turned to go, Gaara looked over his shoulder and stared at me with passive eyes._

"_What is your name?" He asked, almost daring me to disobey him so that he had an excuse to end me right there._

_I started straight back, my eyes not wavering from his._

"_My name is Noemi Akiyama." I said, my strong voice echoing throughout the opening. Gaara blinked slowly, as if burning my name into his memory. Without another word, he turned away and vanished into the bushes with his siblings._

_I wiped the back of my hand across my injured cheek and gazed at the small blood stain which appeared. I had a bad feeling that this wouldn't be the last time I'd meet the emotionless stare of those sea-foam eyes._

**_END FLASHBACK_**

* * *

"Do you know how much your words meant to me back then and even now?" Gaara spoke suddenly, pulling me out of my flashback and into reality.

I bunched up my futon cover in my hands. "Temari and Kankuro had mentioned it to me, but I never knew how it affected you."

Gaara locked eyes with me and I felt myself unable to look away.

"You and Naruto are to two people I owe my lives to." He said, shocking me with the amount of emotion he put into those words. "With your words about the importance of friends and family and Naruto's words about never giving up, I was able to rethink my whole outlook on life. Previously, I'd only cared for myself and treated everyone else as if they were a waste of my time." A sad look descended onto his face and I had an extreme urge to hug him.

"But not anymore." I finished. He nodded and a small smile appeared, the sadness instantly vanishing. Butterflies erupted in my stomach but I forced myself to ignore them.

"Thanks to you two I have become the person who I am today. I have friends and family who I care for deeply, as well as the inhabitants of Suna who I am responsible for. I could never have become like if this I'd never had the pleasure of meeting you or Naruto."

He took a few steps closer to my bed and gave me a full blown smile, shocking me to my core.

"I don't think I've ever thanked you before so thank you, Noemi."

I was utterly speechless and could only give a soft smile in return to his unexpected revelation. My chest felt like it was about to burst with happiness when a guard almost broke down the door in his hurry to get into the room. His eyes flickered between the two of us and he swallowed.

"Kazekage-sama, the rouge nin are here!"


	7. Info about updates! (Not a chapter soz!)

Hey guys!

Sorry that this isn't a chapter *cries* but I'm writing this to let you know that I'm going away for a month on a school trip to Ecuador where there will be no internet access whatsoever. How the hell am I going to survive?! *screams*

*Coughs awkwardly* Anywho, this means that there won't be another update for a month so you're gonna have to preoccupy yourself somehow... Yh... I promise that I'll try and get the chapter up within a week of me being back, making that the week the 11th August to the 17th August. If there isn't an update within this time please feel free to bombard me with angry messages as to why I haven't updated yet... *readies shield*

By the way, I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while as well but it's because I've been furiously packing for this trip and between that and juggling my time for school stuff and seeing my friends before I go, I basically ran out of time for this story ='( Kinda crappy excuses but it's all true.

So I guess I'll see you guys in a month or so! God I'm gonna miss you people ='(

Byeee! xx

**(I'll delete this chapter-not-chapter thing when I go to update the next actual chapter of this story btw)**


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